Hearing aid and heat deflector for hair driers



Sept. 14, 1948. G. K. EDWARDS. ET AL 2,449,460

HEARING AID AND HEAT DEFLECTOR FOR HAIR DRIERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledDec. 12, 1946 4 INVENTORS 6? ii Edwards JZZZ. ZMA ma flll'orne yr'Patented Sept. 14, 1948 HEARING AID AND HEAT DEFLECTOR FOR HAIR DRIEBS YGeraldine Katharine Edwards, Napoleon; and Martin Henry Zachrich,Defiance; Ohio Application December 12, 1946', Serial No. 715,658

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in hearing aid and heatdeflector for hair driers, and has for an object to provide an improvedaccessory device for installing in hair drier bells to make it possiblefor the patron to hear while the drier is in operation, and also servingas a protection to the ears from the heat circulating in the drier.

Another object of the invention is to provide an aid for hearing inwhich ear shells or trumpets are movably mounted in the hair drier bellin such manner that they may be shifted to a position clear of the earsin the act of mounting and demounting the bell; and which may beadjusted to position fitting over the ears and closely to the sideofthe' head into operative position after the bell has been placed overthe head of the patron.

A further object of the invention resides in providing: an improvedhearing aidfor hair driers in which the movably mounted. ear shells areassociated with catch devices whereby the same may be held in theretracted. positions and freed only after the bell has'been finallyadjusted to the patrons head.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improvedhearing aid for hair driers in which'theear shells are carried by simpleforms of assemblies adapted to be mounted in any of the conventionaltypes of bells and which may be manufactured and sold at small cost andare so constructed and arranged as not to require expert attention inthe mounting of the same in the bells.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel form oftrumpet or ear shell in which the same is contoured and constructed in amanner most favorable to the picking up of sound waves and directingthem into the cavity of the ear.

With the foregoing and other objects in View the invention will be morefully described hereinafter and more particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

In the drawings, in which like parts are denoted by the' same referencecharacters throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a hair drier bell shownequipped with ahearing aid and heat deflector constructed in accordance with thepresent invention and with parts broken away and parts shown in section.

Figure 2v is a side elevational view of a hair drier bell shown asadjusted to a patronshead and as equipped with devices according to the2, invention shown in position adjusted to the ears of such patron.

Figure 3 is an enlarged. vertical fragmentary section showing one of theassemblies and its ear shell mounted in place and adjusted to the ear ofthe patron.

Figure 4 is a similar view showing the ear shell in the retracted andlatchedv position, and

Figure'5 is a perspective view'of one of the ear shells.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a hair drier bellpartly broken away and showing a modified form of the invention as inapplied position.

Figure 7 isa similar view with the parts shown in the withdrawnposition.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a further modified form of ear shelland support.

Referring more particularly to the drawings iii designates a hair drierbell of a conventional construction and H the inner shell of such bell,while l2 represents the bell ring mounted at the lower portion of thebell and converging to the lower opening through which the head of thepatron is received as indicated in Figure 2.

Within the inner shell I land at opposite sides of the same aredetachably mounted assemblies for carrying the two ear trumpets orcovers. Such assemblies basically comprise substantially vertical orupright bars l3 fitting up within the inner shell H and extending belowthe same to the lower ends of the bell ring l2. Ofisets M are producedin the lower portions of the bars l3 and a clamp I5 is formed in the barbelow the offset or may be separately formed and affixed to the offsetportion of the bar. This clamp has its mouth opening outwardly to permitthe same to be slipped over the lower curved'ed'ge of the bell ring 12to which the clamp I5 is secured by a set screw l6.

A bow spring !'I is carried by the bar I3 and extends on the inner sideof the same the bow bulging away from the bar inwardly of the shell H.Rivets or other fastening means l8 may be employed to hold the upperflat end of the spring ll against the inner wall of the bar l3. Belowthe how the spring l1 passes outside the outer wall l9 of the ear shellor trumpet to which it may be afiixed by any appropriate fastening, asby example the rivet 20.

The ear shell or trumpet comprises not only the outer wall I9 but alsoan inner wall 2|, the two side walls 22 and the upper closed end 23.penings 24 and 25 are made respectively in the 911ml wall 1.9 and innerwall 2|. These openings are offset vertically, the opening 24 being inthe lower portion of the outer wall l9 below the lower edge of the bellring l2 where such opening 24 is exposed for the reception of soundwaves origihating in the compartment in which the bell is installed andbeing employed. The upper opening 25 in the inner wall 2| is above theconfines of the lower edge of the bell ring l2 and is positioned toreceive the ear of the patron when the bell I is adjusted to finalposition over the head of such patron.

It will be noted more particularly from Figure 5, that the walls of theear shell or cover are contoured in such manner that from the preferablyrounded upper closed end 23 the side walls 22 diverge downwardly andoutwardly while the inner and outer walls l9 and 2| also divergedownwardly and outwardly from one another and are also rounded in agentle curved sweep in a direction away from the inner wall 2|. Thisimparts to the ear shell which is completely open at the larger bottomportion characteristics of a hearing aid or trumpet most suitable to thetransmission of sound to the ear of the patron wearing the same.

In Figure 3 the direction of sound waves entering the opening 24 isindicated as impinging upon first the inner wall 2| and then beingdefiected by the outer wall I9 to the cavity of the ear. The entire earshell progressively narrows from bottom to top so that the sound wavesare thus condensed and funneled to the ear.

The spring I! may be also conveniently utilized as it is made ofresilient metal to form a spring catch 26 upon the lower portion of thesame projecting outwardly from the outer wall l9, and below the catch 26is a cam or terminal end 21 positioned to engage a striker block 28 uponthe upper portion of the offset l4. Such striker block is formed with acam or inclined surface or nose 29 opposed to the cam terminal end 21 ofthe spring catch. A locking shoulder 30 beyond the inclined surface 29receives the catch 26 as shown in Figure 4.

In the use of the device, the two ear shells project below the bell IDand its ring l2 and collects sound waves which are transmitted to theears of a patron wearing the bell as otherwise the bell covers the earsand closes off the accessibility of sound waves. Figure 2 shows theposition occupied by the two ear shells during the period of hairdrying. In this position also shown in Figure 3 the ears are allowed toproject through the openings 25 and into the internal spaces of the earshells. The springs I! are biased to move the shells inwardly or towardone another and to force the same with light pressure against the sidesof the head of the patron. Thus the springs I! both support the earshells and function to maintain them in place about the ears.

When the drying operation is completed and the bell i0 is to be removedfrom the head of the patron, the lower projecting portions of the earshells from suitable handles by which such shells may be engaged andmoved outwardly away from the sides of the head of the wearer. In doingso the mutually inclined members 21 and 29 react to cam the spring latch26 downwardly so that it will spring behind the shoulder 30 and becomeinterlocked therewith. In the interlocked position the ear shells areclear of the ears so that the bell l8 may be lifted from the headwithout any obstruction. After reinstalling the bell over the head of asubsequent patron, the downwardly projecting portions of the ear shellsare g ped and forcibly moved inwardly to disengage the spring catches 26from the locking shoulders 30; whereupon the ear shells are released tothe infiuence of the springs I! which will automatically shift theshells inwardly to a correct hearing position.

It will also be noted that the ear shells form heat deflectors inasmuchas the ear is substantially covered by the shells, the upper portion ofthe shell being completely closed except for the ear opening 25 and thisopening fits all around the side of the head so that the ear issubstantially isolated in an enclosed chamber at the upper portion ofthe ear shell.

It will therefore be appreciated that the invention gives to the patronthe free use of the sense of hearing during hair drying operations.

Each assembly may be separate or the bars or frames l3 may be part of aring fitting around within the inner shell I and connecting both earshell assemblies.

Preferably, however, each bar l3 will be separate to enable the same tobe inserted upwardly with its offset l4 and clamp l5 clearing the inneredge of the bell ring l2. Then the clamp may be slipped over the loweredge of the ball ring l2 and in doing so the bar l3 will be moved inplace against the inner shell I The set screw 16 being tightened theentire device is installed in place. The opposite shell assembly may bemounted in like manner.

The ear shell may be of heat proof plastic material such as Plexiglas,hard rubber, cast aluminium, plastic or other heat non-conductingmaterial.

Referring now to Figures 6 and '7, the bell l0 supports springs I!carrying the ear shells i9. These springs I l may bias the ear shells l9to either the closed position against the ear and head of the wearer ofthe bell as shown in Figure 6, or to a withdrawn position from the headand ear as at least partially illustrated in Figure '7. It is preferablethat the springs I1 urge the ear shells l9 inwardly against the head tothe position of use shown in Figure 6, in which event a cam or eccentriclevers may be employed to exert the necessary pull to draw the earshells l9 to the outer position to clear the ears. The levers 35 arefulcrumed at 36 upon fulcrum pins which are slidable in slots formed bythe spaced rails 31 welded or otherwise aflixed to the sides of the bellI0 Arms or links 38 connect the fulcrum pins 36 with the ear shells IS.The cam or eccentric curved edges of the levers 35 contact the side wallof the bell It. By lifting the handles of the levers 35 as shown inFigure 7, the cam edge forces the fulcrum pin 36 outwardly in the track31 and pulls with it the link 38. When the lever 35 is moved to theoutermost position, the end of such lever may form a toggle joint withthe fulcrum pin 36 and thus lock the ear shell in the outer position. Assoon as this toggle lock is broken by the downward swinging movement ofthe handle of the lever 35 into a small angular distance in a clockwisedirection, the spring I'I will restore the parts to the position shownin Figure 6.

Referring more particularly to Figure 8, the two ear shells |9 areentirely independent of any hair drier bell but are carried by a pieceof spring wire 39 in the form of a yoke looped as at 40 at its centralportion and having its free ends connected to hinges 4 l' upon the outerwalls of the ear shells I9 In the use of this device the ear shells maybe adjusted manually to the sides of the 5 wearers head and over theears in the manner already explained, in which position the spring wire39 will tend to move the ear shells together and maintain the position,the spring action being enhanced by the loop 40; and the ear shells mayindividually adjust themselves to a tight position about the earsthrough the flexibility permitted by the hinges 4f.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of construction and design of the above specifically describedembodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof,such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For use with a hair drier bell or the like, a hearing aid and heatdeflector comprising a support mounted within said bell, an ear shellresiliently carried by said support biased by spring pressure againstthe head of the patron, said ear shell having communication externallyof the bell, a spring catch element carried by said shell, and a strikerelement forming an interlocking couple with said spring catch elementand supported from the bell and constructed and arranged forinterlocking engagement by the spring catch element when the ear shellis moved to an outer position away from the ear.

2. For use with a hair drier bell or the like, a hearing aid and heatdeflector comprising a support mounted within said bell, an ear shellresiliently carried by said support biased by spring pressure againstthe head of the patron, said ear shell having communication externallyof the bell, and an interlocking couple carried between the ear shelland the support for holding the ear shell in outer position away fromthe ear, said couple comprising a spring catch having a cam terminalend, and a striker block having a cam surface positioned offset said camterminal end of the spring catch, said striker block also having alocking shoulder back of its cam surface for finally engaging the springcatch.

3. For use with a hair drier bell having inner and outer spaced shellswith a bell ring carried by the outer shell, a substantially verticalbar fitted within the inner shell and having an outwardly offset clampfor engaging the lower edge of the bell ring, said bar at its offsetportion having a striker block with an inner cam nose and an outerlocking shoulder adjoining said nose, a

hollow ear shell adapted to project up within the bell and with aportion extending below the bell, the upper inner portion of the shellhaving an ear opening, the lower portion of said shell having an openportion to receive sound waves; a bow spring having its upper endaffixed to said bar and its lower end aflixed to said ear shell, saidspring being biased to move the ear shell inwardly against the ear, saidspring having a lower portion bent outwardly to form a spring catch forengaging said locking shoulder and a cam terminal end for riding oversaid cam nose of the striker block.

4. For use with a hair drier bell, a hearing aid and heat deflectorcomprising an ear shell adapted to fit the ear of the patron wearing thebell, a resilient support in the bell for movably carrying the ear shelland for simultaneously biasing the ear shell to a position about the earof the patron, said resilient support and said ear shell being sorelatively constructed and arranged that portions of the ear shellproject up within the confines of the bell and lower portions of the earshell project below said bell, said ear shell being hollow and comprisedof inner and outer walls with a closed top, said ear shell having an earreceiving opening in the upper portion of the inner Wall and having anopening in its outer wall extending below the bell and through thebottom of such outer wall, and means for holding the ear shell in anouter position away from the ear.

GERALDINE KATHARINE EDWARDS.

MARTIN HENRY ZACHRICH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,167,368 Adams-Randall Jan. 4,1916 1,528,080 Scher Mar. 3, 1925 2,031,001 Moore Feb. 18, 19362,060,553 Burleigh Nov. 10, 1936 2,081,034 Carter May 18, 1937 2,150,720Mullooly Mar. 14, 1939 2,290,277 Duncan et a1 July 21, 1942 2,293,161Miller Aug. 18, 1942 2,298,170 Robinson Oct. 6, 1942 2,339,159 Duncan eta1. Jan. 11, 1944

